Background and historical contexts
Read this excellent analysis from The Conversation website of the impact Ghost Town had both musically and visually. Answer the following questions:
1) Why does the writer link the song to cinematic soundtracks and music hall tradition?
The writer links the song to cinematic soundtracks and music hall traditions as it starts with a Hammond organ’s six ascending notes before a mournful flute solo, it paints a bleak aural and lyrical landscape. Written in E♭, more attuned to “mood music”, with nods to cinematic soundtracks and music hall tradition, it reflects and engenders anxiety
2) What subcultures did 2 Tone emerge from in the late 1970s?
In the late 1970s, 2 Tone had emerged stylistically from the Mod and Punk subcultures and its musical roots and the people in it, audiences and bands, were both black and white. Ska and the related Jamaican Rocksteady were its musical foundations, sharpened further by punk attitude and anger
3) What social contexts are discussed regarding the UK in 1981?
In 1981, England was hit by recession and away from rural Skinhead nights, riots were breaking out across its urban areas. Deprived, forgotten, run down and angry, these were places where young people, black and white, erupted. In these neglected parts of London, Birmingham, Leeds and Liverpool the young, the unemployed, and the disaffected fought pitch battles with the police
4) Cultural critic Mark Fisher describes the video as ‘eerie’. What do you think is 'eerie' about the Ghost Town video?
The very blank facial expressions portray a sense of 'eeriness' in the music video and this has been paired with conventions of the horror genre such as low-key and underneath lighting- this creates a feeling of unease for the audience because there is no sense of emotion or passion in the video
5) Look at the final section (‘Not a dance track’). What does the writer suggest might be the meanings created in the video? Do you agree?
The writer suggests that the meanings created in the video are meant to portray a cry out against injustice against closed off opportunities by those who have pulled the ladder up and robbed the young, the poor, the white and black of their songs and their dancing, their futures- I agree with this suggested meaning because we can infer that the band members reflect society at the time because they driving around with no purpose because there are no opportunities for them and this was the reality for people like them in society. Even at the end of the music video, they are throwing rocks into the River Thames and they seem to have gotten nowhere and arrived at no particular destination which reflects how aimless young people felt about their futures at the time that the music video was released
Now read this BBC website feature on the 30th anniversary of Ghost Town’s release
1) How does the article describe the song?
The article describes the song as a depiction of social breakdown that provided the soundtrack to an explosion of civil unrest
2) What does the article say about the social context of the time – what was happening in Britain in 1981?
In 1981, Britain was in industrial decline which had left the city suffering badly- as a result, unemployment was among the highest in the UK
3) How did The Specials reflect an increasingly multicultural Britain?
The Specials reflected an increasingly multicultural Britain with a mix of black and white members- the band's 2 Tone record label gave its name to a genre that fused ska, reggae and new wave and created a crisply attired youth movement
4) How can we link Paul Gilroy’s theories to The Specials and Ghost Town?
Paul Gilroy's Black Atlantic theory can be applied to The Specials because they played ska music which is a hybrid mix of Jamaican reggae, American 1950s pop and elements of British punk rock. Gilroy's Black Atlantic suggested that things are not specifically African, American, Caribbean, or British but instead is a hybrid mix of all of these at once- which is very evidently shown in The Specials
5) The article discusses how the song sounds like a John Barry composition. Why was John Barry a famous composer and what films did he work on?
John Barry was a famous film score composer and he worked on the scores for 11 of the James Bond films between 1963 and 1967, as well as arranging and performing the "James Bond Theme" for the first film in the series
Ghost Town - Media Factsheet
Watch the video several times before reading Factsheet #211 - Ghost Town. Once you have analysed the video several times and read the whole factsheet, answer the following questions:
1) Focus on the Media Language section. What does the factsheet suggest regarding the mise-en-scene in the video?
The factsheet suggests that the Ghost Town video uses the style of British social realist films. This genre is characterised by sympathetic representations of working-class men, the highlighting of bleak (often urban) environments and a sense of hopelessness. The video’s low-budget shoot, the social and political nature of the subject-matter of both video and song all reflect the codes and conventions of this film genre. The bleakness of the final shot where the band throw stones into the Thames is very powerful and nihilistic
2) How does the lighting create intertextual references? What else is notable about the lighting?
The lighting creates intertextual references to expressionist cinema seen in films like The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari. In the car, the band are lit eerily by a limited interior light source and what looks like a handheld torch to light the faces of those in the back from a low angle. This is a highly effective low budget filmmaking technique suited to the aesthetic
3) What non-verbal codes help to communicate meanings in the video?
The non-verbal codes play a memorable role in contributing to the atmosphere of the video. The singing of the song with expressionless faces and direct mode-of-address with zombie-like, stiff body movements are suddenly relaxed in the manic middle section
4) What does the factsheet suggest regarding the editing and camerawork? Pick out three key points that are highlighted here.
- One scene is cut like an action sequence of a car chase where both its style and short shot duration give a frenetic feel. This is reinforced by handheld, disorienting camerawork with whip pans and canted angles
- The sequence near the start consists of a series of establishing shots and low angle shots which make the scenery loom in an intimidating way
- The video ends with superimposition of a long cross-dissolve of the tunnel lights to the stone-throwing shot, to unsettling effect
5) What narrative theories can be applied to the video? Give details from the video for each one.
Todorov's theory of equilibrium can be applied to the video:
- EQUILIBRIUM: The band setting off together looking for something to do whilst being accompanied by a eerie diegetic sound and the green traffic light which is an arbitrary sign that things are being set in motion
- DISEQUILIBRIUM: The bleakness and emptiness of the streets because, ‘Bands don’t play no more – too much fighting on the dance floor’
- NEW EQUILIBRIUM: Their bleak arrival at the river, having found nothing else to do
6) How can we apply genre theory to the video?
Neale's theory can be applied to the video because the theory suggests that genres hybridise. Ghost Town is an example of how music videos often borrow from different cultural reference points. As discussed, the visual aesthetic for Ghost Town draws strongly on two cinematic influences- expressionist cinema of the 1920s and the social realist mode of film-making that began in the 1960s. The musical genre of ska had strong links to the 1960s, when it became popular in the UK with the mod sub-culture. Two-tone culture had diverse influences such as reggae, ska, and punk/new wave
7) Now look at the Representations section. What are the different people, places and groups that are represented in the Ghost Town video? Look for the list on page 4 of the factsheet.
In the Ghost Town video many different people, places and groups are represented such as: 'Thatcher's Britain', the city, urban youth, race and masculinity
8) How can Gauntlett's work on collective identity be applied to the video?
David Gauntlett suggests that media texts may offer us a sense of collective identity, by being an audience member and finding things in common with others via our shared tastes. In this sense, the song and video nurture a sense of male collective identity, and shares the experience of trying to negotiate identity. This means that the text offers a place for men to see their problems being enacted and perhaps compare them with their own lives in what was a time of economic deprivation for many when many traditionally masculine jobs were disappearing
9) How can gender theorists such as Judith Butler be applied to Ghost Town?
Judith Butler's theories can be applied to Ghost Town because Butler suggested that gender was not defined by the sex we are born with, but is a collection of behaviours by members of a biological sex often based on attitudes and expectations held by society. She referred to these as a ‘performance’. These musicians seem to be ‘performing’ the structures of patriarchy which include brotherhood, camaraderie and male solidarity. Butler also argued that unless the media could also begin to transgress, (or cross) boundaries in the way it represented gender, it is difficult for society also to lessen its reliance on gender stereotypes. This is because stereotypes circulate in the media as well as in society itself
10) Postcolonial theorists like Paul Gilroy can help us to understand the meanings in the Ghost Town music video. What does the factsheet suggest regarding this?
Postcolonial theorists like Paul Gilroy can help us to understand the meanings in the Ghost Town music video. The factsheet suggests post-colonialists might argue that there is double consciousness (Gilroy) here. This term refers to the experience of being part of a black minority in a predominantly white culture, seeing black representations being constructed for white people from the outside with very little self-representation. Black musicians, as part of a music industry in the UK which was controlled by the white majority, had limited control in terms of self-representation and were often side-lined in bands which were multi-ethnic
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